The present invention relates to insect controlling bands. More specifically, it provides insect repellant dispensing wrist and ankle bands.
A variety of insects such as mosquitoes and house flies bite and otherwise annoy humans and other animals. Various means have been developed to inhibit this. One approach is to place a volatile insect control chemical directly on human skin, and/or on clothing being worn by a human. However, some consumers are reluctant to place chemicals directly on their skin or clothing.
Hence, there have been attempts to dispense volatile air treatment chemicals without the need for direct contact with human skin or clothing. One approach is to use an active dispensing device positioned somewhere in a room where humans are likely to be. This can range from burnable candles or coils, to electrical dispensing systems. However, this requires treatment of an entire room, and further does not protect a human when they leave the treated room.
Yet another approach is to provide a portable device which a human can clip on their belt. It contains a fan and an insect repellant impregnated substrate. The fan operates when protection is desired. Some consumers may prefer a lower cost, lighter weight, alternative.
It has also been suggested to coat a wrist bracelet or other belt-like object with a volatile mosquito repellant or other insect control ingredient, so as to create as a passive dispenser of mosquito repellant. While this approach allows some protection to travel with the human, and is relatively low cost, even using highly volatile and strong repellants such passive evaporation provides only limited protection. See also WO 2009/003900.
In unrelated work, U.S. Pat. No. 7,300,409 discloses a patch for delivering a therapy chemical to the skin using vibration. The device can optionally also be provided with a pouch that chemically produces heat, or be provided with various fragrancing chemicals such as lavender oil which can be volatized from the device. This device can be bulky and relatively costly if constructed to perform all of these functions at the same time.
Hence, a need still exists for improved ways of dispensing insect control actives, particularly where the protection is for a moving human.